Bibi Invited Pop Star Who Called for Obama’s Death to Sing HaTikvah on Election Night

Amir Benayoun is one of Israel’s most famous Mizrahi pop stars. The closest thing to him here might be Ted Nugent, if Nugent had remained popular and sang songs calling Pres. Obama Hitler and wishing for his death. For that’s what Benayoun, a darling of the political far-right, has done. He wrote a new song about Pres. Obama. It’s an execrable song, not just the lyrics. He sings it with a croaking voice in the tempo of a soporific dirge, which I suppose is meant to offer it some portentous sense of meaning, which it entirely lacks. This is a translation of the lyrics, found here in Hebrew:

I bought a crow with a cute little mustache
Even though there are many like it you can buy free in the street
Because of my love for Obama I will only say
That I called the crow by the name of that disgusting President

The reason I bought this cruel crow was to try
to inject into this traitorous creature a few drops of heart
In the meanwhile, I lost an eye, I suffer from stupidity and an evil crow
I wish for the death of this wicked creature.

That’s why it was so hard for me to choose a special name for him
There have already been a few other crows who’ve tried to wipe us out forever
That’s why it was so hard for me to choose an original name for him
To illustrate just what disgusting garbage he is.

He pesters me at home, caws, pesters the neighbors
His pals vandalize the street and terrify the pigeons
The crow is a betrayer from the days of that terrible Flood
Even then he refused to be Noah’s messenger and bring news.

…That’s why it was so hard to choose a name for this creature
I have no idea why he lives and breathes…

In subsequent interviews he’s further “clarified” his views and defended the song, though he removed it from his Facebook page where he originally published it. In this interview, he acknowledged he wished for the death of all haters of Israel, among which he included Obama, but says he can’t understand where anyone got the idea he wants Obama to die:

“I long for the death of the wicked one, who currently represents the peak of evil in the world, which for me is Obama,” said Benayoun. “It is not specifically Obama. I mean the death of the creature who wants to kill us all the time, and the one who currently works hardest at this is Obama.”

“…I wanted the name of someone whose favorite sport is the destruction of Israel. So I thought of a few names. The name came to me last, and the one that was the most legitimate, was Obama, because he has been very busy with this activity in the recent past,” he continued. “He has armed Iran, he immediately gives them the stamp of approval, and Iran wants to destroy us. I pray for the death of this creature called the hater of Israel, I wish for the death of a crow called Pharaoh, called Hitler, called Stalin, names like that. It’s not so much Obama. I mean the death of the creature who all the time wants our death. The one who currently works hardest at it this Obama. I do not know how articles got out of that Netanyahu’s singer wants Obama to die”.

Benayoun went a step further and compared the U.S. President to Hitler. “I intended to speak about the kinds of people who want our destruction. I say that if he wants the annihilation of Israel, then it is especially intended for him…Only reality will prove if Obama is the worst of all time, but in my opinion he is the worst of the worst…”

“Whoever calls aloud that he wants to destroy the people of Israel so that there will not remain any Jews, and he will erase us because it is written in a book somewhere, I’m afraid of him,” the singer added.

You can imagine that the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv isn’t terribly happy with this news. It released the following statement:

“We were sorry to hear the repulsive descriptions. We condemn any provocative and racist language, whether it is against the president of the United States or against anyone else, and we believe that most Israelis think like us.”

The settler publication, Arutz Sheva, in covering the story made this remarkably clueless comment:

“How the song constitutes “racist language” as phrased by the embassy’s condemnation remains unclear.

Benayoun appears to realize that the U.S. Secret Service might not take kindly to his making a visit to these shores any time soon:

When asked if he was worried he might not be let into the US due to the song, Benayoun responded, “not only am I not concerned (that will happen), I G-d willing hope and pray that they won’t want to see my face there. By the way, I didn’t have plans to travel there, to the land of plastic.”

Last month Benayoun was an honored guest at Likud Party headquarters on Election Night, where he sang Israel’s national anthem, HaTikvah. If you’re nostalgic and want to hear a true Israeli fascist butcher HaTikvah, give a listen:

@Richard, this Benayoun character is a failed pop star whose popularity in Israel is reserved strictly to right-wing Mizrahi people (and even then only as an after-thought). The closest U.S.-based analogy would be Ted Nugent, not Bob Seger.

If one wanted to find an excuse for Netanyahu putting up with this bloke one could say that he must have been tipsy. He certainly looks it in the photograph you posted.

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

May 9, 2015 4:18 AM

David

Amazing! Israel habitually kills everyone around and then frets about the entire world wanting to “off” Israel and Jews (hence justifying more “had to do it” killing.) This is psychopathology, not unknown in history, but most commonly distributed among criminals. I know it’s been said before but these people are crazy.

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

May 9, 2015 10:24 AM

Walter

” I know it’s been said before but these people are crazy. ”

‘Othering’, David?

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

May 9, 2015 11:16 AM

David

“othering” only to the extent of separating normal psychology from pathological varieties.
But, next you may perhaps more directly suggest that I am “anti-semitic,” and can therefore be dismissed.

Vote Up0Vote Down Reply

May 9, 2015 1:42 PM

Dave Terrry

Richard translates lyrics as “Because of my love for Obama I will only say That I called the crow by the name of that disgusting President.”

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